The People's Champion – How the Honda Civic Became a Worldwide Icon
At Sabukaru, we have covered the more glamorous side of Japanese cars.
Nissan’s legendary Skyline GT-R’s, Toyota Supra’s, alongside Mitsubishi and Subaru’s respective top-tier rallying machines. What we’re going to cover now however, despite numerous sports versions, is on the humbler side of Japanese cars. The continuously produced [since the early 70s!] Honda Civic.
The Civic debuted in 1972. As a company, Honda was still struggling to find their footing on the car market. They were known for their two-wheeled offerings, but were still looking for that first hit in terms of cars, in fact, the company itself was planning to get out of the car market entirely in the early 70s as their cars prior to this have all garnered mediocre reception. However, the Civic became that first hit for the company.
The first generation Civic’s tagline was “it will get you where you’re going”. And, with its 50hp engine, 4-speed manual transmission, and superior reliability, it will perfectly achieve what the tagline advertises.
It also certainly helped that the Civic was also very fuel-efficient for the time, a definite factor that added to the high sales number in a time that was rocked by the 1973 oil crisis.
Over the years, there would eventually be 10 more generations of the Honda Civic and it would become the 6th most best selling car in the world. It would also cement itself in global culture, being one of the most well-known names in automobiles and taking its part in car-related subcultures too.
The Civic’s golden formula of affordability, bulletproof reliability, and decently good ride quality shows how you don't need millions of horsepower and the latest aerodynamic engineering in order to make a beloved machine. Enjoy the ride.
